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Pollen-tube growth pattern and chalazogamy in Casuarina equisetifolia (Casuarinaceae)

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Abstract

For a better understanding of pollen-tube guidance in relation to pollen-pistil interaction, we investigated the mode of pollen-tube growth in pistils of Casuarina equisetifolia, a monoecious, wind-pollinated species that undergoes chalazogamous fertilization. The pistil is bicarpellate, but only one of the two carpels develops with two ovules. One of these ovules develops more than four embryo sacs. Pistils usually require more than 1 month to reach maturity after pollen grains have been deposited on the stigmas. During that period, pollen-tube growth proceeds discontinuously in five distinct steps that lead up to fertilization: (1) from the stigma to the upper region of the style, (2) from the upper region of the style to a septum in the ovary, (3) from the septum to the surface of the funiculus, (4) from the funiculus to chalaza in the ovule, and (5) from the chalaza to an egg apparatus. Probably because of competitive interaction between male and female gametophytes (or ovules), one pollen tube is selected from among many during the first step (just before the second step), one ovule from the two during the second and third steps, and one embryo sac from more than four during the fourth and fifth steps. On the basis of our results, erroneous drawings and explanations reported in earlier publications on chalazogamy in Casuarinaceae should be brought into question.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Fumiyoshi Ishidate (Carl Zeiss) for technical advice on the multi-photon laser-scanning microscope, and to Hiroaki Setoguchi, Toru Tokuoka, Yukitoshi Kimoto, Jung Sung Kim, Masumi Kono, Tomoki Kadokawa and Kentaro K. Shimizu for their suggestions on completing the manuscript. The study was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (No. 14405012) and funds from Suntory Flowers Limited.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, , Japan

    Akiko Sogo, Junko Noguchi & Hiroshi Tobe

  2. Laboratoire de Botanique, Centre IRD de Nouméa, BP A5, Nouméa cedex, New Caledonia

    Tanguy Jaffré

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  1. Akiko Sogo
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  2. Junko Noguchi
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  3. Tanguy Jaffré
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  4. Hiroshi Tobe
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Correspondence to Akiko Sogo.

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Sogo, A., Noguchi, J., Jaffré, T. et al. Pollen-tube growth pattern and chalazogamy in Casuarina equisetifolia (Casuarinaceae). J Plant Res 117, 37–46 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-003-0129-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-003-0129-z

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